The 83rd Annual Academy Awards capped off another Oscar season last night with the usual glitz and glamour, while another event last week addressed the greener side of Hollywood.
Global Green Event Chairman Sebastian Copeland (Courtesy of Revo)
held its 8th annual Pre-Oscar party last Wednesday night at the Avalon in Hollywood, an event that raises money and awareness for the organization鈥檚 various initiatives to combat climate change. After a series of fortunate misunderstandings that resulted in my mistakenly being given a VIP wristband, I found myself on the Avalon鈥檚 upper balcony amongst LA鈥檚 eco-elite, sipping a mineral water sourced from depths of a volcano and discreetly scanning the VIP crowd in the vain hope of a Leo sighting.
Though the Inception star was nowhere to be seen, several other celebrities strutted the green carpet in support of Global Green鈥檚 ambitious environmental agenda, which tackles everything from climate change policy to post-Katrina rebuilding efforts on the Gulf coast. As the only environmental event of the Oscar season, the Pre-Oscar party provides a platform for Hollywood鈥檚 eco-conscious to broadcast their concerns about the threat of global climate change. But despite the heftiness of the cause, the evening was mostly an opportunity for the environmental crowd to have fun, repeatedly visit one of the several open bars, and enjoy great live music.
Indie rock outfit played to a distracted crowd still filing into the theater from the green product display in the lobby, but later in the night and headliners played rousing sets to a packed house of over 1,000 people.
Between musical performances, Suzy Amis Cameron, wife of Avatar director James Cameron, spoke on the importance of green fashion and named London based designer Samata Angel the winner of the second annual competition to design her green Oscar gown. The winning design was a simple one-shouldered pink number constructed entirely of organic fabrics and finished with a vintage belt buckle the designer copped to stealing from her mother. 鈥淚 think it was worth it,鈥 she said laughing.
Later in the evening, President and CEO Matt Peterson took the stage alongside noted polar explorer, environmental advocate, and Event Chairman Sebastian Copeland to announce the unveiling of Global Green鈥檚 new Carbon City Index, a tool that publicizes a city鈥檚 carbon emissions data and assigns a letter grade based on how successfully it has implemented emissions reductions programs. The Index鈥檚 pilot city, Los Angeles, received an underwhelming C- grade, which Copeland explained was meant to motivate Angelenos to take action.
鈥淭he Carbon City Index is a tool to explain, in simple terms, the performance of your city or region,鈥 explained Copeland. 鈥淏y removing the complex scientific principles, which can cripple enlisting popular interest, the index provides an easy-to-understand, accessible scoreboard that helps stimulate a desire for improvement.鈥
Whether the Carbon City Index will actually help to bring about carbon emissions reductions remains to be seen. But one thing鈥檚 for sure 鈥 Global Green knows how to throw a party.
–Kaitlin Keleher